Journal-bearing



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JOURNAL BEARING.

No. 572,236. 7 Patented Dec. 1, 1896.

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JOURNAL BEARING.

No. 572,236. r Patented Dec. 1, 1896.

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0. H. WVOODWORTH. JOURNAL BEARING.

No. 572,236.- Patented Dec. 1, 1896.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES H. lVOODl/VORTH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TOCHARLES F. DAVIS, OF EL PASO, TEXAS.

JOURNAL-BEARING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 572,236, dated December1, 1896.

Application filed November 11, 1895. Serial No. 568,514. .(No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. \VOOD- WORTH, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Chicago, in the countyof Cook and State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Journal-Bearings,of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to that class of journal-bearings in whichantifriction devices (either balls or rollers) are interposed betweenthe journal and its bearing, the bearing being arranged upon the innersurface of a ring or a series of rings arranged side by side.

The object of the invention is to provide a j ournal-bearing of suchconstruction that the concentricity of the outer surface of the journaland the inner surface of the bearing will be maintained and the wearingof all the parts compensated for automatically. This object I accomplishby using an open springring, which must be expanded in order to receivewithin it the journal and'the antifriction devices when these parts arenew, the

normal circumference of its interior being such that it will contract,when permitted to do so, to the minimum circumference, that will includethe journal and antifriction devices when the parts shall have been wornto 0 such an extent as to be no longer serviceable.

I am aware that it has been proposed to surround theantifriction-rollers of a roller-bearing with a sleeve having a tendencyto con tract and to transmit the load to this sleeve 3 5 through themedium of a pair of shoes having curved surfaces which, when the bearingis new, are concentric with the axis of the journal, a packing of rubberbeing arranged between the shoes and the sleeve and the load 0 being putupon each of the shoes at only one point. These shoes are rigid, andhence as the bearing wears the concentricity of their inner curvedsurfaces with the axis of the hearing will be destroyed. Thisconstruction 5 is open to the objection that a circular seat ofunchangeable radius is provided for a sleeve of changeable radius, andhence as the parts wear and the sleeve contracts its external surfacewill become eccentric with relation to its seat, and as a consequencethe load will not be properly distributed, and this fact is not alteredby the fact that thecircu- 'lar seat is in the shape of a pair of shoeswhich are to a limited extent movable independent of each other.

A bearing constructed in accordance with the present invention differsfrom that above described in that there is no circular seat for thebearing-ring. It is provided With a seat of such nature that itaccommodates itself to the ring and permits it to contract withoutaltering the disposition of the load. A bearing constructed inaccordance With the present invention includes as an essential feature acompensating seat for the bearing-ring, and this compensating seat Iprefer to arrange upon two shoes which have pivotal engagement with thebearing-ring and a sliding engagement with the j ournal-box. So farasthis essential feature of the invention is concerned it is immaterialWhether balls or rollers be used as antifriction devices, albeit Iprefer to use balls.

The invention consists in the features of novelty that are particularlypointed out in the claims hereinafter, and in order that it may be fullyunderstood I will describe it with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, which are made a part of this specification, and in which-Figure 1 is a vertical transverse section of a journal-bearing embodyingthe invention in its preferred form, the parts being shown in full linesin the positions that they occupy when they are new and by dotted linesinthe positions that they occupy after they have been worn to aconsiderable extent. Figs. 2 and 3 are vertical longitudinal sectionsthereof on the lines 2 2 and 3 3, Fig. 1. Fig. 4: is a plan View of afragment of one of the bearo ing-rings,showin g the construction of itsoverlapping ends. Fig. 5 is a vertical longitudinal section of ajournal-bearing embodying such features of the invention as areapplicable to journal-bearings in which rollers are 5 used asantifriction devices. Fig. 6 is an elevation of the cap of thejournal-box viewed from the inner side. A represents the journal, 13 aseries of antifriction-balls, and C the bearing-rings, any desirednumber of which may be used, depending upon the number of ball-circlesit is desired the bearing shall have. In the drawings I have shown sixof these rings, but as they are all of similar construction thisdescription will, for the sake of brevity, be confined to but one ofthem, excepting where it becomes necessary to include others.

The upper half of the bearing-ring is very much heavier and thicker thanthe lower half, since it is the upper half that is called upon tosustain the load, the lower half being provided simply for the purposeof holding the balls in place. On its under side it is open and its endsoverlap, the inner one 0 of the overlapping ends being bifurcated, asshown more clearly in Figs. 2 and 4. Ordinarily the balls will travel ina path midway between the edges of the 'ring, and hence it follows thateven though the end 0 of the ring terminates abruptly, still it will notpresent a shoulder over which the balls must pass, because, as will beseen on reference to Fig 2, by bifurcating the inner end 0 two bearingswith which the ball comes in contact before it reaches the extremity ofthe end 0 are provided. When the extremity c is reached, two points onthe ball will be bearing upon the inner edges of the two divisions ofthe bifurcated end 0. In order that these two bearings for the ballsshall be of ample area, the inner edges of the two divisions of thebifurcated end of the ring are curved, as shown more clearly in Fig. 2.The bearings thus provided converge from their extremities to the crotcha3, and hence it follows that the distance between the points on theballs with which they have contact varies and gradually increases ordecreases, according to the direc tion in which the balls travel.

From the extremity of the end 0, proceeding in the direction of thearrow, the inner surface of the ring is a true circle until the point a;is reached, and from here to the extremity of the bifurcated end citsinner surface gradually approaches the center from which the circularportion is struck. If this were not so, there would be somewhere orother a shoulder which the balls would have to pass over. The flanges 0with which the ring is provided for the purpose of preventing the ballsfrom becoming displaced, terminate somewhere between the point a: andthe extremity of the bifurcated end of the ring and are preferablynotched, as shown in Fig. 1. This ring when new and not under tensionhas an internal circumference that is considerably less than the circlethat will include the journal and the balls when they are new, so thatit will have a constant tendency to contract and will contract as theparts wear to the minimum circumference that will include them when theyshall have worn to such an extent as to be no longer of any use. Thistendency to contract is aided byputting the load upon the ring at twopoints located above its horizontal diameter and upon opposite sides ofits vertical diameter. Preferably in order to accomplish this the ringis provided at each of these points with a socket z for receiving acylindrical portion 01 of a shoe D, which has a flat surface cl, thatbears against a seat e, formed for it on the journalbox E. By making theportions 61 of these shoes and the sockets in which they fit circularand complementary a relative movement between the ring and shoe ispermitted and the latter will accommodate itself to the position of theformer. In consequence thereof as the parts wear the ring contracts,bringing the points z z closer together, and as this takes place theshoesD accommodate themselves to the changed positions of these points aby sliding along their seats 6. As may be seen more clearly in Fig. 3,the sockets z for receiving the cylindrical projections d of the shoesdo not extend the entire width of the ring, shoulders 0 being left toengage the ends of said projections, whereby movement of the ring in thedirection of its axis relative yto the shoes is prevented, the movementof the shoes in the same direction being prevented by projections I),that are formed on them and occupy sockets e in the box.

Where a number of rings such as above described are used, they arearranged side by side, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and the shoes Dconstitute the means whereby they are spaced or held in proper positionswith relation to each other.

There rollers are used as antifriction devices, the bearing may beconstructed as shown in Fig. 5, where B represents the rollers and O therings, which differ from the rings shown in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, inthat they are without marginal flanges and their overlapping portionslie in the same circle, instead of being arranged one within the other,as above described.

F is an antifriction-ball arranged upon a race supported by the innerface of the cover G of the journal-box and so disposed that the ball isin position to take the end thrust of the journal.

I do not claim to be the first to use an antifriction-ball for thispurpose, and so far as this feature of the invention is concerned it islimited to the construction of the race, the peculiarity of which isthat it slopes downward away from the end of the journal and has contactwith the ball at a point located between the end of the journal and avertical plane which is perpendicular to theaxis of the journal and cutsthe center of the ball, so that the ball will have a constant tendencyto roll away from the end of the journal. This race is formed in twoparts, one of which, i, is on a circular flange I, and the other ofwhich, 4}, is on a projection I, located within the flange I.

It will be understood that While the ball is below the horizontaldiameter of the journal it will be supported by the part 'i of the race,and while it is above the horizontal diameter it will be supported bythe part i.

lVhile I have shown in the drawings only one antifriction-ballfor takingthe end thrust, (this being the number customarily used,) still I desireto have it understood that the invention is not limited thereto and agreater number may be used, if desired.

Having thus described my invention, the following is what I claim as newtherein and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. The combination with a journal and a series of antifriction devicessurrounding it, of an open spring-ring encircling said antifrictiondevices, said ring being of such diameter that when in use it has aconstant tendency to contract, and means for transmitting the load tosaid ring at two points located upon opposite sides of the verticaldiameter of the journal, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with a journal and a series of antifriction devicessurrounding it, of an open spring-ring encircling said antifrictiondevices, said ring being of such diameter that when in use it has aconstant tendency to contract, and a pair of shoes for transmitting theload directly to said ring at two points located upon opposite sides ofthe vertical diameter of the journal, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination with a journal and a series of antifriction devicessurrounding it, of an open spring-ring encircling said antifrictiondevices, a pair of movable shoes through which the load is transmittedto the ring, said shoes being in engagement with the ring upon oppositesides of its vertical diameter, and seats upon which said shoes bear andare adapted to slide in order to accommodate themselves tothe positionof the ring, substantially as set forth.

4:. The combination with a journal, of a series of antifriction devicessurrounding it, a ring encircling said antifriction devices, a pair ofmovable shoes through which the load is transmitted to the ring, saidshoes being in engagement with the ring upon opposite sides of itsvertical diameter, and seats against which said shoes bear and uponwhich they are adapted to slide, said shoes having rocking engagementwith the ring, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination with a journal and a series of antifriction devicessurrounding it, of an open spring-ring having a constant tendency tocontract encircling said antifriction devices, a pair of movable shoeshaving circular projections, and seats upon which said shoes bear andare movable, the ring being provided upon opposite sides of its verticaldiameter with circular sockets in which the projections of the shoesfit, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination with a journal and a series of antifriction devicessurrounding it, of an open spring-ringhavingaconstant tendency tocontract, encircling said antifriction devices, a pair of movable shoeshaving circular projections, and seats upon which said shoes bear, thering being provided with circular sockets in which the circularprojections of the shoes fit and with shoulders engaging the ends ofsaid projections, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination with a journal and a plural series of antifrictiondevices surrounding it, of a plurality of open spring-rings encirclingsaid antifriction devices, means for transmitting the load to each ofthe rings at two points located upon opposite sides of its verticaldiameter and means for holding said rings at the proper distance apart,substantially as set forth.

8. The combination with a journal and a series of antifriction-ballssurrounding it, of an open spring-ring having a constant tendency tocontract encircling said balls, said ring being provided withoverlapping ends the inner one of which is bifurcated and provided alongthe inner edges of its two divisions with converging bearings for theballs, substantially as set forth.

9. The combination with a journal and a bearing therefor, of ajournal-box having opposite the end of the journal an annular race andan antifriction-ball arranged on said race, the point of contact betweenthe race and ball being between the end of the journal and a verticalplane which is perpendicular to the axis of the journal and cuts thecenter of the ball, whereby the ball is given a tendency to roll awayfrom the end of the journal, substantially as set forth.

10. The combination with a journal and a bearing therefor, of ajournal-box having opposite the end of the journal an annular race, theouter wall of which, below the horizontal diameter of the journal,slopes downward and away from the end of the journal, and the inner wallof which, above the horizontal diameter of the journal, slopes downwardand away from the end of the journal, and a ball arranged in saidrace,substantially as set forth.

CHARLES H. WOODWORTH. Witnesses:

L. M. HOPKINS, S. E. SHARON.

